Black Caps

In 1983 we purchased a home on a hill at the edge of a state forest in NY state. After moving in, we realized there were several hundred raspberry bushes on the property. I never really liked raspberries up till then, but I quickly learned to love them. In that area, red raspberries are red caps, black raspberries are black caps. Along with those we had blueberries, wild blueberries and blackberries.

We lived there for almost 10 years and the berries became the kids summer business. They would pick the berries early in the morning, then set up a table at the end of the driveway, keeping the berries cool in a cooler. Neighbors and small local markets quickly became regular customers, often putting in orders for large amounts, days or weeks ahead knowing we’d have ripe berries by July 4th each year and again in late summer or early fall. I would often keep a lot of the late berries for our own use, stocking up the freezer and would take some to the nursing home for my residents.

When I realized we might be moving, I transplanted some of the berry bushes to mom’s yard and then the 3 years later moved them to our current home. Only a small number survived, but enough that by July 4th each year, we can count on at least a pint to a quart of berries a day for almost a month.

Photo of berries picked today… they are darker than they appear in the photos. The ones in the bowl will be eaten fresh, the ones in the tray will be frozen for later use. I like to freeze them in a single layer, using small trays that can be stacked, giving the trays a shake occasionally so the berries don’t clump together. Once frozen, I can pour them into a bag for loose packed, easy pour berries. They thaw out quickly this way, retaining their shape better. My favorite way to use the berries is to make a simple raspberry sauce and drizzle it over ice cream, pound cake or other desserts and I also like them in pies.

Grandson Connor has discovered the blackcaps and quickly learned the very dark ones are the sweet ones. However, he hasn’t learned how to avoid the raspberry thorns and so we help him pick berries. To him all the berries are simply ‘backberries’ and he would happily make an entire meal of them. His parents are catering a wedding today and so I’m babysitting him. Lunch was a simple sandwich as he’d been snacking a little while before lunch. Actually the only reason he was eating lunch was to get him to sit still for a few minutes… *G* When he only had 1/4 of his sandwich left, I gave him some berries, the sandwich was immediately abandoned.

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9 comments

The berries look wonderful! We don’t have enough room for berry bushes of of our own, but we are lucky enough to be a few minutes from a great pick-your-own farm. We’ve picked 17 lbs of blueberries this year (so far!) and will be back for raspberries and blackberries! Our munchkins love berries as much as Connor does!

Hello! I LOVE black cap berries and we have so many in out back field there is to many to eat before they go to waste. Is there a way of freezing them so they still taste as good as they do fresh? We forze so many freezer bags full but were very disapointed when we realized tasted the first unthawed bag,YUCK! I would appriciate any commets, thank you

Amy, I think that freezing them properly is most important and then sealing them very well. I don’t freeze wet berries. That means I either pick and freeze fresh without rinsing, not a problem for me since I don’t use pesticides and such. Or I lightly rinse and then spread the berries on paper towels to dry thoroughly, then freeze for a loose pack and then double seal to prevent freezer burn. This prevents excess mushiness and off taste once the berries are thawed.

Even with the most care some berries will be softer than others, sometimes it depends on the variety of berries, my larger hybrids hold their shape better than the smaller ones. Either way, they can be used for things that don’t required perfectly shaped, firm berries. Use the soft ones for simple syrup to drizzle over pound cake, ice cream or other desserts.

Don’t forget you can make jams, canned or frozen and other spreads and that way have something ready to use when you need it.

When I finally settled down for sure 9 years ago, here in Portland, Oregon, I bought some raspberry bushes because I love them. Somehow, someway a black cap bush appeared among them. I recognized the berries because I had heard a family member mention them. That was in Walla Walla, SE Washington. Don’t think I had ever seen one, though. Well, I was glad to have it.
Rita

I grew up eating black raspberries every summer at my grandparents house. i live in washington and they brought them up here with them from virginia before my mom was born. these berries are my favorite and its sad cause nobody around here even knows what they are. after my gradparents past away we were able to save a bunch of the plants, i was scared i would never taste another black cap. luckily im munching on them at this very moment… my keyboard is turning purple…

I grew up in Portland Oregon, and as kids we ate lots of black caps. I lived in Georgia, for a short time and now live i Chandler Az. In the last few years i have asked for black caps in the grocery stores, and no one seems to know about black caps. I agree with Brooke, i am disappointed no one seems to know where the black caps have gone. …

We are in the process of moving and you can bet I’m going to try to dig up my red caps and my black caps bushes to bring here.. This will be the 2nd move for some… But, I already found some black caps growing wild here. So, hopefully we will always be able to enjoy the berries. btw… because of the hot weather, the berries were ready a couple of weeks earlier and didn’t last as long this year…

I just picked 2 pints a couple of days ago…and another quart of black caps, today! They just happened on our 2 1/2 acres, at the back of the property, near the ‘tree line…large oaks, etc. I try to take care of them, but they are very aggressive. I truly love black caps! My legs are all scratched, near the ankles, but it was worth it to get all of the berries! One of my fond memories from childhood was when we went to the woods near our farm in Iowa to pick wild blackberries. We live in Wisconsin now, and I think about those childhood treks into the woods in Iowa, as I pick my own now. Yay! for wild black raspberries! Healthy food!